This article is a sequel to the one that I wrote for
the June 2005 edition of the CFHS Journal (the story of
Mrs Amy White) and
hopefully shows how fascinating family history is, even
if, at times, we do not always like what we find.

Most families have skeletons in the cupboard which have
been kept under wraps for generations but then,
suddenly, a discovery is made whether it be
illegitimacy, lunacy or criminality by an interfering
family genealogist who stumbles across the truth.

The story of the mysterious Josiah White is possibly
one of these. Josiah White was born at Porthallow near
St Keverne on 10 February 1846, the son of Edward White
(carpenter) and Loveday nee Guy. Josiah was baptised at
his parent's house in Porthallow by the Bible
Christian minister of the Helston Circuit on 26
February 1846.

He grew up in a family of five children and followed in
his father's footsteps by becoming a carpenter.

By the 1861 census, Josiah was the only child living at
home with his parents but on 25 May of that year Edward
White died after a short illness.

On the 1 December 1865 Josiah White aged 19, carpenter
of Porthallow, married Amy Harry at the Wesleyan
Methodist Association chapel in Helston. Amy was the
daughter of John Harry, carpenter of Roaring Stile, and
Amia (nee Richards) was aged 24.

Over the next few years six children were born to
Josiah and Amy - Thomas Henry 1867, Alfred John Harry
1869, Josiah James 1871, Arthur 1875 (who died young),
Ernest 1876 and Samuel 1878. This is where the apparent
mystery begins.

In the 1871 census for Porthallow Amy White is listed
as Head of household and married with three children -
Alfred John Harry aged 2, Thomas Henry aged 4 and
Josiah James aged 3 months.

By 1881 Amy was still at Porthallow with four children
living at home - Thomas Henry aged 14, Alfred aged 12,
Ernest aged 5 and Samuel aged 3. The fourth son, Josiah
James aged 10, was living in Porthallow with his
maternal grandmother Amia Harry.

In 1881 Amy White was described as a widow and in 1882
emigrated to USA with her four children. A year later
she remarried in the USA to Charles Vogt and had a
second family.

Josiah White was not listed on the 1871 Census and
neither was he buried at St Keverne between 1871 and
the 1881 Census when Amy was styled as a widow. In
fact, his death does not appear to have occurred in
England but in Australia.

Did he work as a ship's carpenter (which could
explain his absence from home on the 1871 Census) and
then later jumped ship in Australia?

On 26 September 1874 Josiah White aged 25, a bachelor
and a wheelwright was married at St Matthew's
Church Broadford, Kilmore District in the Colony of
Victoria to Emma Louisa Brucewater.

In Australia Josiah and Emma White produced a large
family of possibly nine children - Edward, Emma,
Frederick, William, Loveday, Josiah, John, Alice and
Henry Claude.

These names are listed on Josiah's death
certificate. Josiah White died on 13 December 1924 aged
84 years at King Edward Avenue, Sunshine in the state
of Victoria. His occupation was that of a wheelwright
and it was stated that he had lived in Australia for 60
years, 20 years in Victoria and 40 years in other
states (the other states included New South Wales where
at least six of his children were born).

The names of his children and their ages were also
listed in birth order ranging from Emma aged 46 to the
youngest Claude aged 28. Two children, Edward the
eldest child and William (the fourth child) were
deceased by 1924. Josiah was buried on 15 December
1924.

This then is the mystery - possibly there may have been
two Josiah Whites but no other birth/baptism entry
relating to a Josiah in the right period of time in the
right area of Cornwall has been found.

There seems to be no burial record for Josiah White in
England. There also appears to be no passenger entry
for Josiah White on a ship sailing from England to
Australia - possibly, as a ship's carpenter and,
therefore, a crew member, he would not be on a
passenger list.

Could he have decided to stay in Australia and,
therefore, jumped ship in order to do so?

Where was Josiah in 1871 when Amy was the Head of the
household in Porthallow? Was he way at sea?

Did he and Amy both commit bigamy?

In Amy's case she may have considered herself to be
a widow when she remarried in the USA for, without
doubt, she believed that Josiah had been lost at sea.

Was it possible for Josiah to have children in England
and Australia at the same time?

Both Amy White in Porthallow and Emma White in
Australia were having children over a similar period -
Amy had three children in the 1870s (Arthur 1875,
Ernest 1876 and Samuel 1879) after Josiah had married
in Australia (1874) and Emma White had her first three
children (William the eldest 1876? Emma 1878 and
Frederick 1880).

Children who have fathers at sea can often correlate
their birth dates to the period nine months before when
he was home on leave - this is certainly true in my
father's family when I compare the births of his
brothers and sisters with my grandfather's naval
record!)

Family history always throws up intrigue, dilemmas
(nothing exciting ever happened in our family really
means "there are skeletons in the cupboard and I
am not going to tell you") and unanswered
questions.

Josiah White and his second wife Emma are buried
together in Australia (I have a copy of a photograph
showing the grave and headstone) while Amy White (later
Mrs Vogt) died in 1919 and is buried in the USA. Both
Josiah and Amy had their roots in St Keverne parish in
the small fishing village of Porthallow. Both emigrated
to the "New World" and started second
families. Both left behind an interesting family
history, even if there are no definite answers to the
questions posed in this story. In fact, does the lack
of answers really matter?